The Bro Code

"Tonight's the night!" James declared, sitting himself down opposite Sirius in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"The night for what?" Sirius asked, barely lifting his head from where he was reclining in a chair and watching Remus destroy Peter at chess.

"Cha!" James flailed his hands, as if he couldn't believe Sirius was even asking him, "Lily!"

"Ah…" Sirius turned to look at James, "Prongs mate, I don't think Evans is just gonna jump…"

"No!" James rolled his eyes dramatically, "Lily agreed to go to the Halloween Dance with me! She's finally realising that I'm her one true love!"

Sirius grinned, looking at his best friend. "Really?" he asked, the grin growing wider. He knew that James had been making progress with Lily. Since they had Head duties together and had been spending time together for all sorts of things, they had actually become friends. If Lily really had agreed to go to the dance with him, then it was going better than Sirius had thought. James just nodded at him and Sirius let out a cry as he threw himself on the other boy. "Well done, Jamesypoo!" he yelled, "Now you have to woo her with your manly charms!"

"That's the plan…"

"If you like, I can coach you…"

"Ah…" James tilted his head and Sirius smirked at the other boy's hesitation, "I dunno about that…"

"You're right." Sirius nodded, "You wouldn't want her falling in love with me instead."

"Yeah, that's what I'm worried about." James replied flatly. Sirius just laughed and put his feet up on James' lap. "You got a date?"

"Remus is my date." Sirius replied instantly.

"I have a date." Remus put in, looking up from his game.

"What?" Sirius sat up and looked at his friend. "Who?"

"Serina Sergeant."

"That Hufflepuff chick with the blond hair?"

"That's her." Remus told him, taking one of Peter's Knights. Peter whined.

"How could you do this to me?" Sirius cried, "I thought we were bros!" Remus raised an eyebrow at him and Sirius flopped back down dramatically. He grinned at James when his friend met his eye. They had noticed Remus watching Serina Sergeant in the Great Hall lately. Somehow, their friend had always managed to seat himself with a direct line of sight at Hufflepuff table. It had become that routine that their housemates had begun to just leave certain seats vacant at the table for them to sit in, though Sirius doubted anyone else knew why they had begun sitting in certain places so regularly. He hadn't ever actually seen Remus speak to the girl, however. How had he gotten a date with her? Clearly his friend was a little more suave than Sirius had given him credit for. "Think we need to have a little chat about The Bro Code, friend."

"Do we?" Remus asked mildly, "I'll pencil you in for after my date…"

Sirius snorted, his eyes on the roof. "Scoundrel."

"I don't have a date, Sirius." Peter said, "I'll be your bro."

"I appreciate that, Pete." Sirius watched James whose eyes were on the fire in front of them. His friend looked pensive, and Sirius supposed he was thinking about the night to come. He wouldn't be surprised if James was trying to prepare everything he would say and do. Sirius could practically feel the waves of anxiety coming off the younger boy. He gave his friend a nudge with his foot, "You'll do fine, mate." He told him gently. James gave him a small smile. "She's agreed to go with you… so you're halfway there. She obviously thinks you're worth her time."

"Yeah… I just…" James appeared to shake the mood off, "You're right. She can only now notice how perfect I am and fall madly in love with me. Did I tell you I made the prophesy the other day in Divination?"

"Several times. Also, I was there…"

"Good… so … it's practically already happened…"

Sirius just nodded in agreement as Peter gave a mortified wail and flung himself from his seat. Remus snickered lightly.

Sirius watched with great amusement as James danced with Lily. He didn't know if the two had actually coordinated their outfits, but Lily had arrived dressed as a princess while James insisted that he was "Prince Charming". James' prophesy about Lily falling utterly in love with him in Divination may have been a joke at the time, but Sirius was now considering if perhaps that was actually coming to pass. Coordinated outfits was a pretty big step. Coincidental coordinated outfits… that was just insane. Flipping his own vampiric cape over his shoulder, Sirius smirked at the fact that he still had the best outfit in the room. Nobody would ever compare.

He turned his eyes on the rest of the Great Hall. Golden candles flickered prettily as they floated above the masses of dancing students. Music pumped above the giggles and shrieks that pierced the atmosphere every so often and Sirius smiled widely as Remus and Serina approached him. "Hey," he greeted, his grin widening as he noticed the faint blush staining Remus' cheeks. "Having a nice time, Remus?"

"Y-Yes…" Remus replied. Sirius eyed his friend, pleased. He hadn't ever really seen his friend this way before. He watched as Serina took Remus' hand and informed Sirius that they hadn't stopped dancing since dinner. He momentarily wondered at her informal and rather familiar way of speaking to him, considering he didn't think they had ever actually exchanged greetings before, but then Remus was sitting beside him and gesturing at Lily and James on the dancefloor.

"I know, right?" Sirius grinned and turned to his friend. "Only taken the git seven years."

"You seen Peter?"

"Nah…" Sirius put his feet up on a nearby chair and leaned back, flicking his hair from his face. "Think he went chasing some Ravenclaw fourth year."

"Oh…" Sirius heard the uncertainty in Remus' voice, and nodded his agreement,

"Yup."

"Did you coordinate with your brother?" Serina asked, and Sirius raised an eyebrow at her.

"Come again?"

"The costumes…"

"I have the best one…"

"He's a vampire, too."

"He what." Sirius blinked at her, "He would be." He sighed "Just like Regulus." Involuntarily, Sirius' grey eyes scanned the room, looking for his younger brother. He hadn't spoken to Regulus in months, even though he saw him every day from across the hall. He swallowed thickly. It hurt, knowing that Regulus was so close, and yet they could never be like they had been. When they were young, they were inseparable. They had been the best of friends. Regulus had run to Sirius' bedroom whenever there had been a storm, or their parents had argued.

Everything had changed when Sirius had started at school. He had thought things might be okay the next year when Regulus had come to Hogwarts, even when his brother had been sorted into Slytherin. He had thought that maybe away from their parents, things could go back to how they had been before. At least a bit friendlier… but they had not. Regulus had been just as cold at school as he was at home. Sirius tried to ignore it most of the time, but it cut at him.

"Do you really not have a date?" Serina asked him.

"I like to keep my options open…" Sirius replied absently. He and Regulus had used to love Halloween. Samhain. Their family had used to make a bit deal of it. Not the way they had done other celebrations; this one had not included a massive guest list and huge feast. Samhain had involved all manner of sweets and dressing up for fun. They had often created impromptu picnics in the living room and they had told each other stories. They had, of course, been scary, and Regulus had inevitably ended up spending the night in Sirius' bed for comfort. Sirius blinked quickly and looked around the hall again. It was actually one of the few good memories he had of his family.

"Maybe that's why you don't have a date…" Serina said. Sirius got to his feet, barely noticing the look that Remus gave the girl.

"Might call it a night." He murmured, before hurrying off into the crowd. He had seen his brother, and he wanted to talk to him. He wasn't ready to give up on the boy just yet.

Regulus had reached the doors to the Great Hall by the time Sirius caught up. He followed his brother out into the Entrance Hall, eyeing the costume that Regulus was wearing.

"Reggie!" He called, and his breath caught slightly when the younger boy looked over his shoulder and came to a hesitant stop. "Nice outfit…" he breathed when he caught up. Sirius watched Regulus's dark grey eyes look him over expressionlessly.

"Ah."

"Guess we both had the same thought…"

"Evidently." Regulus shifted his weight from one foot to the other, "What do you want, Sirius?"

"I just wanted to talk to you."

"About?"

"… about anything." Sirius murmured, "We haven't talked in months…"

"I have nothing to say."

Sirius fought to keep his face neutral. His eyes burned. "Reggie…"

"I'm busy, Sirius." His brother looked away up the hallway, avoiding his eye.

"Busy, doing what?"

"Stuff." Regulus went to turn away, but Sirius caught his arm. His brother flinched and Sirius looked down in surprise. He hadn't grabbed him that hard. What he saw poking from under his brother's sleeve had him releasing the boy as if he'd been burned.

"What the fuck is that?" Sirius pointed.

"None of your business!" Regulus snapped, pulling his sleeve down over the tattoo.

"Are you kidding me?" Sirius felt his eyes widen and he took a step away from his younger brother, still pointing at the boy's arm, "Regulus… you can't be serious!"

"Again, it's none of your business, Sirius."

"Reg…" Sirius shook his head, "No… That's not you." He took a further step back, "You… You used to want to be a healer…"

"You don't get to judge me!" Regulus said, taking an angry step closer to Sirius, "YOU have no right! You betrayed us!"

"Reg…"

"SOMEONE had to do something to protect the family!" Regulus cried, "Someone had to make up for you!"

Sirius could feel his control slipping. "So you joined…" He couldn't finish the sentence. His voice cracked and he just fell silent. Regulus began moving away from him once more. Sirius's eyes followed him, "You're still my brother…"

"Not anymore." Regulus walked away and Sirius wiped furiously at his eyes. He couldn't believe that Regulus would actually go and join the Dark Lord. What was he even doing recruiting school students?

Knowing that he needed some time to process this, and that he couldn't handle any more of the dance, Sirius turned and ran up the stairs, heading for Gryffindor Common Room.

Sirius cried. He was fairly impressed with himself for making it all the way to his dorm, being able to throw himself onto his bed and draw the hangings around himself, before the first sob escaped him. Sure, the tears had begun to fall well before he had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, but that hadn't been real crying. At least, that was what he had told himself. He was safely hidden from view behind the hangings around his bed before he'd made a sound. That was what mattered. He allowed a loud sob free as he pressed his face into his pillow. His baby brother was a Death Eater. How had that happened? There had to have been signs. Sirius should have noticed things going wrong. There had to have been something he could have done. He had failed him. "I'm sorry, Reg." he murmured, wiping his face with his blanket, "I'm sorry…"

He jumped when the hangings were suddenly yanked back and he looked up to see James standing over him. "Pads?"

"What… what are you doing up here?" Sirius sat up, wiping at his face. "Where's Lily?"

James crawled onto the bed with him and gave a noncommittal shrug. "I dunno. Probably dancing…"

"Why…what…?"

"Frank told me he saw you talking to Regulus… and then heading this way looking like you needed to talk…" James tilted his head, his hazel eyes locked on Sirius' grey. "What happened?"

"Nothing… we just talked…" Sirius looked intently at his friend, "James… tonight was the night… you have to go back to Lily…"

"Maybe tomorrow will be the night." James didn't move. Sirius stared at him with wide eyes. His friend had been waiting for this since the night they had been sorted. He couldn't just give it up.

"James…" he shook his head, "Lily…"

"We have head duty patrolling the fifth floor tomorrow… It'll be fine." His friend reached a hand out and lay it gently upon Sirius' shoulder, "You know what they say… bros before… Lily."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's how it goes." Sirius agreed flatly.

"So… Regulus…" James pressed and Sirius closed his eyes before more tears could fall.

"He joined… he's… he joined the Dark Lord. He's a Death Eater… I saw the mark…" Sirius looked at his best friend, "He … I should have done something. I should have talked to him more…"

"It's not your fault, Siri." James sighed, "You couldn't have done anything."

"Maybe I could."

"This wasn't the result of some inadequacy on your part."

"Wasn't it?" Sirius countered, "I left him alone. In that house. With …" he bit his lip, "He used to want to be a healer… He was good!"

"I know…"

"He was kind… as a kid, he was the kindest … he cared about everyone…" Sirius's voice caught and he gave a slight cough to try and clear it. "He's not going to be able to do what he's asked to… and he'll be killed…"

James wrapped his arms around Sirius, pulling him in tightly. "I'm sorry." Sirius clenched handfuls of the back of James' shirt as he cried. He loved his brother, and his brother had loved him. He'd felt as if he had been slowly losing him over the years, but now he felt as if he had lost him completely. There was nothing more that could be done. One did not just quit the Death Eaters. You were in until you were dead. That was how it worked. Regulus was in for good.

"I loved him." He murmured into James' collar, "I know everyone thought I didn't but I did… he was my brother."

"I know." James rubbed his back gently, "I know… but… you're my brother now…"

Sirius pulled back just enough to look at him. "You don't think I'd give up making out with Evans for just anybody, do you?" James smiled at him.

"Obviously not." Sirius replied, his usual lazy arrogant smirk forming on his lips."Though, truth be told I am more attractive than she is… so this is clearly nothing more than wanton selfishness on your part."

"Clearly." James nodded.

"If you want to make out, all you have to do is ask."

"I'll keep that in mind." James grinned at him.

"Good… but, be warned, I won't wait forever… I have the ladies lining up at the door…"

"Of course…"

"I had so many date offers for tonight…"

"I believe you."

Sirius gave a small laugh. James could always make him feel better. He smiled at his best friend, managing to get his breathing under control once more. He may have felt like he'd lost one brother, but he knew he had another in James Potter.

"You're coming home with me this year for Christmas, right?" James asked him, leaning back on his hands and smiling at Sirius. "Mum's making turkey… and well… someone has to eat the legs… You're coming, right?"

"Always."

"Good." James lay back when Sirius flopped down on the bed. They lay beside one another in silence and Sirius knew that this brother was for life. He suspected there was no getting rid of James Potter, no matter how hard he tried. The thought was oddly comforting.

"Maybe you should talk to Remus about The Bro Code." Sirius suggested.

James snickered slightly. "I'd probably have to make it in chart form so that he could study it while making out with Sarina Sargeant."

"It's just his animal instincts…" Sirius just about giggled.

"You two are hilarious."

Sirius lifted his head to see Remus move toward his bed and throw himself down by his feet. "We know that, Remmikins…"

"So what's the drama?"

"Where's Serina?" Sirius asked, ignoring the question. Remus blushed.

"With her friends…"

"Oh? Why?"

"I'm with mine…"

"Oh? Why?"

Remus jabbed Sirius in the leg. "Something happened and they needed me."

"Ow! Just the usual Black family drama…"

"In other news, we're having turkey for Christmas." James put in and Remus nodded approvingly. Sirius smiled when Remus settled himself down across both James and Sirius' feet and relaxed heavily. He really did have the best friends. Maybe nobody needed a lecture on The Bro Code after all.